1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparati and methods for removing ticks, and more particularly to improvements over known methods and instruments of the kind normally employed in removal of such insects. 2. Description of the Related Art Including Information DISCLOSED UNDER 37 CFR .sctn..sctn.1.97-1.99
Disease, as transmitted by ticks, has been widely documented over the years.
A brief listing is contained in U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,347, issued May 26, 1992. Specifically, col. 1, lines 19-24 specify, ". . . Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever, tularemia, relapsing fever, tick paralysis, and ricksettial diseases; and Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, equine and St. Louis encephalitis, Q fever, spirochetosis, and toxoplasmosis in animals."
In the 1800s, early settlers in this country became afflicted with what has come to be known as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, referred to above.
More recently, Lyme disease has gained national attention, particularly in the Northeastern United States.
The booklet HEALTH AND DISEASE, published by Life Science Library, Time Life Books, Time Incorporated, 1965, authored by Rene Dubos, Maya Pines, and the Editors of Life Magazine, provides a brief description of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. The disease was initially thought to be carried by a type of tick known as the Rocky Mountain Wood Tick. Subsequently, it has been determined that this tick has infected a number of other varieties of ticks. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is characterized by a rash, high fever, and aching joints. Untreated, the disease can lead to death. Initially discovered in the area for which it was named, the disease is now known to have spread to vast areas of the Western Hemisphere.
The "disease" is actually the effect of a spirochete microorganism, which is a bacterium larger than a virus. The microorganisms live and multiply within ticks. The ticks, in turn, infest a series of animal hosts. As larvae and nymphs, ticks feed on the blood of rabbits, rodents, and the like. As adults, they attach themselves to larger mammals, including man. Though certain animals infested with ticks are sometimes not harmed by the micro-organism, in the human body there occurs damage to the walls of small blood vessels. In advanced stages, the malady results in widespread lesions and moderate to severe internal hemorrhaging throughout the human body.
Kyasanur Forest Disease is another tick-transmitted ailment. This virus was discovered in 1957, having as its most prominent symptom, a very high fever. Infected ticks carried by certain birds transmit the virus. The virus was initially isolated in India, but is believed to have spread due to migration of the birds.
While avoidance of the offending tick is probably considered the best defense against the diseases noted, obviously this is not possible.
As a consequence, a number of methods and instruments for removal of ticks have been proposed over the years, as illustrated by the following sample of patents, which are cited as being of general interest in the field to which the invention pertains:
U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,213,460 4,303,268 4,442,837 4,976,718 4,979,771 5,002,323 5,078,729 5,116,347
A widely prevalent procedure has been to physically grasp the tick with a tweezers and attempt to pull it directly out of the skin of the host.
This method, while extensively employed, is seriously deficient for a number of reasons. More often than not, the personnel manipulating the tweezers is often not particularly skilled in the field. What typically occurs is that the tick's body is either broken off, leaving the mouth or proboscis of the tick embedded in the skin, or else, the tick's body is squeezed to the extent that some of the fluid from the tick is actually spewed into the host's wound.
Along with the present widespread concern over Lyme disease, infected ticks have become a serious problem in many parts of the country. Lyme disease, while treatable in its early stages, is considered a serious malady if left untreated. It is capable of causing permanent damage to the body's organs and nerves, and in extreme cases, death. Paralysis and/or severe physical disabilities often ensue in cases where the disease is not diagnosed sufficiently early, and where appropriate medical treatment is not instituted promptly upon confirmation of the presence of the disease.
A typical example of an apparatus and method that have been devised for the purpose of removing ticks is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,460. The patent illustrates a method involving the applying of a forceps to a tick simultaneously with the application of either heat or else a chemical irritant, so as to disturb the tick and purportedly "relax" the tick's body. The inventor claims that he has found suitable chemical relaxants to include alcohol, gasoline, and kerosine, col. 4, lines 30-32.
However, other people have found that the use of heat and/or chemicals can actually impede a safe removal, since the tick may well be killed outright, as opposed to merely disabled, and it is apparently not well documented medically, at least in this patent, that the use of such heat and/or chemical irritant actually attains the desired result, namely causing the tick to release its hold in the host's tissue.
A somewhat similar approach is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,771, which discloses tweezers having heater elements at the ends of the tweezers, which elements contact the tick's body during the removal procedure. The heat allegedly relaxes the tick's body to facilitate the removal, as explained in col. 1, lines 24-28 of the patent. Although the patent contains a statement to the effect that the tick's head will not be crushed during the removal procedure, col. 2, lines 5-9, the implementation of this objective is not explained in any detail, since there is disclosed only one size of tweezers, whereas ticks vary considerably in size, depending on the type of tick. In particular, they can be just barely visible to the eye, i.e. comparable in diameter to that of a typographical period at the end of a sentence in a typical newspaper column; or alternately they can be considerably larger, as for example, comparable to the size of a small pea.
Other patents noted above disclose passive instruments for removing ticks/parasites.
In particular, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,303,258 and 4,442,837 disclose instruments incorporating sliding sleeves on tweezers, which allegedly facilitate grasping the tick and holding it while manipulating the instrument. The same is true of U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,323.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,976,718; 5,078,729; and 5,116,347 illustrate different constructions of passive instruments adapted for use in removing parasites.
That there still exists doubt as to a universally approved technique for removing ticks, reference is made to col. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,347, lines 40-48, wherein the inventor has cast some doubt on the efficacy of the present methods employed in tick removal; in particular the patent specifies, ". . . This new medical knowledge also indicates that the most common methods of removing ticks--such as with the fingers, with tweezers, by applying heat, dousing the parasite with a chemical, or rotating the parasite about its longitudinal axis in efforts to dislodge its imbedded proboscis--are undesirable, and in some cases can actually promote the spread of this and other tick-borne diseases."
Further, note is made in col. 2 of this patent, first and second full paragraphs, of the remarks in reference to an undesirable activation of the tick's autonomic reflex process of regurgitation in response to heat or chemical stimuli.
Finally, the tick, once removed, is usually sent to a laboratory for analysis in order to determine the presence of the Lyme disease bacteria (or disease-producing microorganism, as the case may be). This is best accomplished if the tick is still alive, following its removal. Where the tick has been killed, or badly mutilated by the tweezers, the analysis by public health personnel is made more difficult and with less certainty, which is a distinct disadvantage because the host victim is then faced with the possibility of latent infection and difficulty in having a physician diagnose the presence of disease, due to the questionable nature of the blood tests currently employed, and variations in the incubation period of the disease. In many instances of Lyme disease, symptoms do not become apparent until many weeks after the tick "bite" has occurred.
Where the tick has been successfully removed, storage of the live parasite, for transmittal to the laboratory, is awkward. There is the distinct possibility of inadvertent release of the tick from the tweezers immediately after removal. Were the tick to drop onto the floor, or worse, at a road side or in a wooded area, the problem of locating the body and recovering it can be readily appreciated.
Thus, there has existed a long-felt need for a safe method of removing ticks, especially without undue risk of breaking off the tick's body parts and leaving them embedded deeply in the host's skin; there is also the need to avoid any procedure which might cause the tick to propel fluid into the host's wound at the site of attachment.
Additionally, there has been a need to provide a means for convenient storage of the tick's remains in a safe and efficient manner, preferably to preserve the capability for subsequently examining the tick's body for presence of the Lyme spirochete, at a suitable public health facility or laboratory.
The problem of safely removing a tick has been addressed in the prior art of which we are aware, but a satisfactory solution to the problem appears to be lacking, as of the present time.